RECORDS BROKEN

May 06, 2002 12:00 am

FAST: Sean Williams was a member of the record-breaking 4x800 relay team on Saturday. The old record was set last year. This year's team broke the record by one minute and seven seconds with a time of 7:51.81. (The Observer/RAENELLE KWOCK).

By Raenelle Kwock

Observer Staff Writer

A day after Saturday's Cascade Collegiate Conference outdoor track and field championships, Eastern coach John Spatz was still taking it in.

"There was so much.

Our team was a real team yesterday," he said Sunday.

Eastern athletes won five conference titles and broke two conference records.

Southern Oregon won the men's and women's conference titles. The Eastern men finished third in the six-team meet and the women took fourth in the five-team meet.

Shawn Trimble pole vaulted 16 feet, 3/4 inch on his first attempt to set a conference record.

That was his "best jump ever," Spatz said.

The previous record of 15-8 1/4 was set by Terry Buzzard in 1999. Trimble tried 16-5 for the school record but the bar trickled off on the second attempt.

With his jump, Trimble automatically qualified for the NCAA and NAIA meets.

The mens 4x800 relay broke the conference record by 1 minute, 7 seconds with a time of 7:51.81. The 2001 record held by Eastern was 8:58.68.

Matt Young won a conference title in the high jump after taking second at last year's championships.

Young had not done any jmping during the last two weeks because he had been injured, but he won with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches.

The event came down to "sudden death, whoever the first person to miss was out," Spatz said.

Tim Riley won the 5,000 in 15:36.05. Brian Crowl and Eric Griffiths finished second and third.

"It's not the first time," Spatz said about the 1-2-3 finish. "I doubt it will be the last."

Leah Merrell won her fourth consecutive conference title in the hammer with a 169-0 throw.

"Overall, it was a good effort by the team as a whole," Spatz said.

Brian Hartley did seven events and tried to score as many points for the team, he said.

Christiansen was sixth in the 200 (24.47), while Nick Rickard was seventh (25.01).

Pat Jarman had season bests in the shot put (45-7) and hammer (132-9). Jarman was third in the shot put and fourth in the hammer.

Jorn Johnson injured himself Wednesday and should not have been throwing Saturday, Spatz said,adding that Johnson is a tough kid. Johnson was sixth in the shot put and discus and seventh in the hammer.

"Katlin Lafferty ran really well in the 3,000," Spatz said. Lafferty was third in 10:43.33.

Spatz said the team is proud of its best regular season with the number of qualifiers for the NAIA and NCAA meets.